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The Anaheim Ducks were reportedly looking at London Knight's coach Dale Hunter, but he doesn't appear to be interested in making a return to the NHL.

Hunter won the Memorial Cup with the Knights this year. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Anaheim was looking at Hunter for their head coaching vacancy. Unfortunately for the Ducks, it sounds like Hunter is happy in the OHL. "The Anaheim Ducks were interested in talking to him after he won the Memorial Cup with [the Knights]," said Friedman. "The word is this week that he's not interested in leaving the OHL and going back to the NHL. No confirmation yet." The 55-year-old has 60 games of head coaching experience (plus playoffs) at the NHL level with Washington back in 2011-12. Sun, Jun 5, 2016 02:12:00 PM

The Washington Capitals will take their time finding a replacement for former head coach Dale Hunter.

Hunter decided to leave the team after leading the Capitals to Game 7 of the second round. "My job now is to find the best human talent I can find to coach this club," Capitals GM George McPhee said. "I’m not in any rush to do that, because I haven’t really been thinking in those terms. I don’t know whether it’ll be by the draft or sometime in August, like New Jersey did [last summer]. We’re going to take our time and get the right person." Right now, the greater priority for the Capitals is probably the upcoming draft. They control the 11th and 16th overall picks. Fri, May 18, 2012 11:26:00 AM

Dale Hunter will not return to coach the Washington Capitals in 2012-13.

Hunter's first stint in the NHL was a mixed bag. He wasn't able to turn the Capitals around after replacing Bruce Boudreau as the team's head coach. Washington had a disappointing 30-23-7 record under Hunter and the team barely made the playoffs. However, Hunter got some measure of redemption after the Capitals upset the Boston Bruins in seven games and lasted seven games against the New York Rangers in the second round. During his tenure, Hunter showed a willingness to bench superstar Alex Ovechkin, even in key situations. It will be interesting to see how the next coach handles Ovechkin. Mon, May 14, 2012 12:16:00 PM

Dale Hunter was not willing to discuss his future as the Washington Capitals' coach following his team's 2-1 Game 7 loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday night.

Hunter replaced Bruce Boudreau on Nov. 28, and the Caps went 30-23-7 with him behind the bench in the regular season. Though they needed until the second-to-last day of the season to clinch a playoff spot, the seventh-seeded Capitals turned heads with how they played in the postseason, focusing more on team defense and blocking shots than a run-and-gun offensive game. "That’s not the time right now," Hunter said when asked if he considered coming back. Hunter is also the owner and president of the OHL's London Knights. Sun, May 13, 2012 01:45:00 AM

Depth Charts

Nicklas Backstrom scored his 14th of the season in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night.

Backstrom now has four goals in his last five games for the Capitals. Washington also got goals from Andre Burakovsky and John Carlson in the loss. Backstrom now has 14 goals and 43 points in 55 games this season.

Evgeny Kuznetsov scored a goal and an assist in Friday's 4-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Both of his points came in the first period. Kuznetsov started by registering the primary assist on John Carlson's goal. Right before the end of the first frame, the Russian center rushed out of the penalty box before blasting a one-timer past Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. The 25-year-old is now riding a six-game point streak and he's picked up at least one point in nine of his last 10. He has 15 goals and 52 points in 54 games this season. Jay Beagle and Lars Eller also found the back of the net for the Capitals on Friday night.

The Washington Capitals have signed Lars Eller to a five-year, $17.5 million extension.

The Capitals acquired Eller from the Montreal Canadiens in the summer of 2016. The 28-year-old will keep the same cap hit he had been making on his previous contract ($3.5 million). He has 11 goals and 28 points in 53 games this season. He doesn't have any fantasy value in standard leagues, but he's been a useful two-way player for Washington. Eller was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.

Chandler Stephenson scored a pair of goals in Wednesday's 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Stephenson's goals were huge, as his first one cut the Flyers' lead to 2-1 early in the second period before tying the game at two less than one minute later. His two goals were the start of Washington's five unanswered tallies in the game. Stephenson finished the night with a plus-1 rating and two shots on goal in 10:39 of ice time. The Caps forward now has four goals and 12 points in 37 games this season. He hadn't found the back of the net since Nov. 6, so tonight's offensive outburst was a little unexpected.

Alex Ovechkin found the back of the net in Tuesday's 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Ovechkin's tally at the 11:02 mark of the third period cut Tampa's lead to 3-2 at the time, but that's as close as the Capitals would come to tying the game. He finished the night with nine shots on goal and one hit in 23:14 of ice time. The Caps captain has now scored in back-to-back games. He's also picked up nine points in his last six contests. He's up to 36 goals and 67 points in 60 games this season. Ovechkin is on pace to score 49 goals and 91 points in 2017-18. Teammate Lars Eller also scored in the loss.

Brett Connolly scored two goals in the Washington Capitals' losing effort on Thursday night as they fell to the New Jersey Devils 4-3 in overtime.

Connolly is having a pretty good season as he now has 12 goals and 15 points in just 37 games so far. The 12 goals are just three off his career-high of 15, a number he attained in last season. The winger now has three goals in his last five games.

Oshie has gotten eight power-play goals, so the situation isn't as bad as it could have been, but it's still a hole in his game. He set a career-high with 33 goals in 68 contests last season and while a regression isn't shocking, the hope still was that he'd do better than this. Oshie has been particularly cold lately as he just has one goal in his last 20 games.

Despite his struggles this season, the Washington Capitals still appear to be high on Andre Burakovsky.

Burakovsky could be trade bait at the deadline as other teams would love to have the former first round pick but GM Brian McLellan likes his forward who has struggled with injuries this season. "[Burakovsky] got off track with his injury and missed some time and got out of sync," MacLellan said. "I'm really confident that he's going to be a good player here. He'll find it down the stretch for us." He has four goals and 11 points in 28 games and was made a healthy scratch Friday.

Tom Wilson scored Washington's only goal in a 7-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night.

Wilson also had 12 penalty minutes in the match to give him 145 on the season. He has accounted for three goals and five points in the last three games. He has registered 10 markers and 27 points in 54 games this season.

Alex Chiasson will be a healthy scratch in Tuesday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Chiasson has seven goals and four assists in 50 games this season. He's been scratched in six of Washington's last nine games. Michael Kempny, who was acquired in a trade with Chicago earlier this week, will also serve as a scratch in this one. Taylor Chorney, who the Capitals placed on waivers earlier today, will also miss tonight's game.

Peluso has no points in three AHL games this season. The 28-year-old has appeared in 142 career NHL games, but none since the 2015-16 campaign. He has 14 points and 209 penalty minutes in his 142-contest NHL career.

Devante Smith-Pelly was forced to listen to racial slurs while in the penalty box Saturday against the Blackhawks in Chicago.

The so-called fans were thrown out of the arena but they should be banned for life and forced to face criminal charges. "There’s absolutely no place in the game of hockey or our country for racism," Washington coach Barry Trotz said. "I think it’s disgusting, and there’s no place for it. ...It just shows ignorance." Smith-Pelly will comment on the situation Sunday. He has seven goals and 16 points in 54 games this season.

John Carlson had one goal and one assist in a 3-2 win over Buffalo on Monday.

Carlson recorded his 11th goal and 36th assist during the second period to give the Capitals a 2-0 lead. He ranks third among NHL rearguards in scoring with 47 points in 59 games. Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov (empty net) had the other goals in Washington's victory.

Matt Niskanen notched a goal and an assist in Sunday afternoon's 4-3 loss to Vegas.

Nikanen assisted on a goal by Chandler Stephenson to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead and he gave the team a 2-1 with his fourth marker of the year in the second period. However, the Golden Knights kept battling back and eventually got the game winner late in the third. Nicklas Backstrom had the other goal for Washington in the loss.

Dmitry Orlov found the back of the net in Monday's 3-1 loss to the New York Islanders.

Orlov finally got the Capitals on the board at the 8:23 mark of the third period, but it was too late for them to make a comeback at that point. The Russian blue liner finished the game with four shots on goal and three hits in 21:56 of ice time. Orlov has three goals and eight assists in 31 games. He doesn't need to be owned in any fantasy league.

Brooks Orpik heads into Tuesday's game at Carolina with just five assists through 40 games, but he has 122 hits and 91 blocked shots.

Orpik is the only player in the NHL with at least 90 hits and 90 blocked shots this season. Despite the lack of offense he remains a solid fantasy option in deeper pools for his physicality. He'll also earn his meager DFS salary more often than not, as he rarely takes a nice off from grinding on the boards.

Michal Kempny won't play Tuesday night, but is slated to make his Capitals debut on Thursday against Florida.

Capitals GM Brian MacLellan feels Kempny will slide nicely into the team's top-four defense group alongside John Carlson. "I think [Coach Barry Trotz] is probably a little more conservative on it, but I think [Kempny] will got a shot at playing there and we will see how it does with it," MacLellan said.

It was a rough first period for Holtby, as he gave up three goals in less than 18 minutes of action. The Capitals managed to close the gap to 3-2 in the third period, but they were never able to draw even. Holtby has now lost four consecutive games. He owns a 28-12-4 record with a 2.95 goals-against-average and a .910 save percentage in 2017-18.

Grubauer picked up his sixth win (6-7-3) in 21 appearances this season and finished with a .941 save percentage despite allowing a goal to Evander Kane in the final seconds of the third period. He has a 2.62 goals-against average and .916 save percentage this year. Braden Holtby will probably be in goal Tuesday night versus Tampa Bay.